Here are a few scenes from the Public Affairs National PAC Conference 2011 in Florida.  We have here the Monday reception and the Tuesday breakfast.

State and Federal Communications will be attending the Public Affairs Council National PAC Conference in Miami Beach, Florida from February 21-24.

Just as it always is with the Public Affairs Council conferences, the agenda looks rewarding. We are excited to be going – to see old friends and to meet new ones.

If you are planning to be there too, please come and say hello! If you’re not planning on attending the conference, fear not – you can follow the conversations on Twitter: @PACouncil #PAC11 and keep up on Facebook. These are definitely worth “following and friending”.

Maybe we’ll see you there!

Five members of the staff of State and Federal Communications attended the Public Affairs Council National Grassroots Conference in beautiful Key West, Florida last week. It was a great chance to learn more about what is happening in grassroots advocacy, to see old friends, and to make some new ones!

One of the best takeaways from the conference, I think, was the way it presented social media as a tool for grassroots advocacy. The offerings at the conference were not an introduction to social media, nor were they making an effort to convince everyone of the value and importance of social media’s arrival. The sessions this year provided insight into best practices of social media. I witnessed much more dialogue in the sessions as more people are aware of it and using it.

There were other high points as well. We really enjoyed hearing the 2010 Grassroots Innovation Awards Winners – Portland General Electric, the American Heart Association, and American Express – talk about the exciting things they are doing in public relations.

Another excellent moment was listening to former U.S. Representative Bill Paxon (R-N.Y.), who spoke at the Friday morning general session. His talk was on the 2010 elections, how they will affect business and public policy, as well as what to look for in the upcoming legislative session.

The conference gave us so much more than we can blog about. We had a great time. We cannot wait until next year!

Thank you very much to the Public Affairs Council for hosting this marvelous conference.

Photo of Elizabeth Bartz welcoming everyone at the Registration/Networking breakfast.

Elizabeth Bartz and several staff members from State and Federal Communications will be attending the Public Affairs Council’s National Grassroots Conference in Key West, Florida from January 25-28.

The conference is offering an exciting lineup of speakers presenting on grassroots leadership, best practices, and the use of social media.

If you are attending, be sure to stop by and say hello! We would be pleased to see you!

Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of State and Federal Communications, Inc. was quoted in Impact, the Public Affairs Council’s digital newsletter. The article is titled “Has the Tea Party Already Peaked? Some Say: Don’t Be Too Certain.”

According to Bartz, the topic of the National Conference of State Legislatures was not the Tea Party:

“Everybody was talking about health care,” says Bartz. “None of the people there were talking about the Tea Party or Sarah Palin or Ron and [Kentucky Republican Seante nominee] Rand Paul, or anything of that ‘anti-establishment’ stuff.”

We have an exciting calendar this fall. Maybe we will see you there?

• September 27-29, 2010   PAC State and Local Government Relations Seminar, Alexandria, Virginia

• October 5-6, 2010   Practising Law Institute Corporate Political Affairs Seminar, Washington, D.C.

• November 11-14, 2010   Capitolbeat Conference, Phoenix, Arizona

• November 20-23, 2010   SGAC Leaders’ Policy Conference, Scottsdale, Arizona

• December 5-8, 2010   2010 COGEL Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.